Darth Hesper
Hesper was born in Theed, Naboo, between 123 and 128 ABY as Théa Cifra. The gloomy and anger-prone daughter of an architect father and royal seamstress mother, Hesper lived a relatively middle-class life within the walls of the Palace; her early childhood was as calm as it possibly could have been as the Sith-Imperial war raged for the first few years of her life. Staunch supporters of the Federation and vehemently anti-Force, her parents eschewed anything having to do with Krayt's One Sith and the New Jedi Order, but remained as uninvolved as they possibly could. After her father's death following a terminal illness in 134 ABY, Hesper's mother moved she and her younger brother to Dee'ja Peak, where they lived simply in the outskirts of town on a very small family-owned estate. Quiet, stormy young Hesper truly loved the Gallo Mountains and spent hours alone on the nearby trails, and it was where she uncovered her latent Force abilities—though she never spoke of being able to move and reshape the earth to anyone, as she was always told by her mother that the Force was not for people of their ilk. When she was not exploring the trails, she read voraciously. When Hesper finished her schooling at a small local university at the age of 18, she left Naboo for Coruscant with the dream of becoming a sculptor; she took with her one bag of her belongings, and a recommendation from a family friend and Naboo parliament member for commission work for members of the Senate. She left behind her mother and brother at Dee'ja Peak, and that was the last time she saw or heard from them. After her arrival on Coruscant, she began work as a sculptor—she lived alone in a modest mid-level apartment, where she collected books, datacrons, antique knickknacks, and where she sculpted. At first, she sculpted only for the lesser-known senators and military officials. A breakthrough finally came a handful of years after her arrival on Coruscant in the form of a grand bronzium statue to be installed in the library of the Jedi Temple. After its completion and during its installation in the Temple, Hesper was confronted by a young Jedi Knight who warned her of her strength in the Force, telling her— with a jovial wink and a laugh—that she could easily have been mistaken for another Jedi. Hesper was taken aback by this, immediately disbelieving the Jedi. She did believe she possessed he Force—but to that extent seemed unreasonable to her. Carrying on, Hesper ignored the encounter for several months. But as time marched on, she thought on it more and more frequently. What if the Jedi Knight was right? What if she really was that powerful? It made her think back on her childhood and every enraged outburst she’d ever had, too. What if she was predisposed to the Dark Side of the Force? The Dark Side that Krayt’s Sith used, and that her parents hated so much... Hesper delved deep into researching the Force on her own. She extensively studied the teachings of the Jedi with the hope that her proclivity to the Dark Side wasn’t true, but, finding that Jedi teachings did not suit her views in the slightest, turned to studying what little she could find about the ways of the Sith—and it was like slipping on a tailor-made glove. Never before had Hesper read anything that resonated so soundly with her soul. Now resolute to find the path to the Dark Side, Hesper locked away her dark ambition and began first with attempts to gather basic mastery of the Force. She was unsure of where to begin, and so she turned back to the Jedi—she committed herself to locating the Jedi who had first confronted her about her presence in the Force. But what Hesper did not plan for was how he would sweep her off her feet. Naren Lasena, the Jedi Knight Hesper had met a year prior, was all she ever could have wanted and more. Handsome, intelligent, gentle, and philosophical, Naren was perfection in Hesper’s eyes. At first, they became fast friends, and Naren remained unaware of Hesper’s tendencies toward the Dark; he attributed her aura in the Force to his overwhelming feelings for the beautiful and pensive young woman. The two fell faster in love than they had become friends, and Hesper's pure adoration for Naren caused a great conflict within her—were she to continue on her path to the Dark Side, what would become of the man she loved? Yet even still, over the short years they were together, Hesper gleaned all she could from Naren. Force techniques, saber combat forms, lightsaber construction, and meditation among the most prominent things. She devoured all she learned from him, and still lusted for more. Hesper loved Naren more than anything, and two years after she had found Naren again, they wed in secret. They lived a life full of art, philosophy, literature, and love, and for three years, they were happy. Even despite the secret nature of their relationship and the long stretches of time Naren spent away from Coruscant, Hesper could not have asked for a more perfect marriage. When Naren was not away on Jedi business, they travelled together, read together, dreamt together, came to know every intimate inch of each other... and soon, Hesper was with child—and had almost entirely forgotten her secret ambition of joining the Sith. An expecting mother, she began to consider abandoning her private quest for the Sith in order to better protect the secrets that were her husband and child from those who would seek to tear their family apart: The Jedi Order—who, according to Naren, strictly forbade marriage—and the politicians and media that so closely watched Hesper's career. But it was not destined to last. Much to her heartbreak and horror, Hesper lost the child at five months in a tragic and bloody airspeeder accident that left her physically broken and her unborn child dead. The grief drove Hesper to the edge—in hysterics and unwilling to cope, Hesper locked herself away for months following “the accident”, while the media pounded at her door to cover the story of the acclaimed young artist Théa Cifra and the mysterious pregnancy she had seemingly so viciously ended. Branded the “deranged mystery mother” and “infant butcher” on the HoloNet, Hesper turned to her art as a means to cope, creating disturbing, macabre sculptures as her career took an epic nosedive. During the time she spent in self-isolation, she repeatedly begged her husband to return home from the mission that had kept him away since before the child had been lost—Hesper pleaded for him to come home and help her cope, but each time, Naren refused. Hesper then realized that her husband, whom she loved dearly, would always place the Jedi Order before her. She hadn't seen it before, as she'd been lovestruck, but after the realization dawned on her, she came back to her original desire to join the Sith. A new desire for power blossomed in her. Nine months after their unborn child’s violent demise, Naren finally returned home from his mission; briefly hopeful they could return to life as it was, Naren made every effort to repair the damage he had done by not returning when Hesper had begged him to. But Hesper would have none of it, for she had become resolute to pursue becoming a Sith, and with her career all but decimated, there was no forgiveness in her. She attacked training herself with a ferocity she had never possessed before. Then, one day, Hesper made a decision to get back at her flake of a husband: she would reveal her and Naren’s marriage to the Jedi Council... the marriage they had so meticulously kept secret over the years. This backfired tremendously, for Hesper then discovered that the relationship Naren had insisted be kept so hush-hush was not unsanctioned by the Jedi, and there had been no need for secrecy. Naren had insisted the marriage be kept secret simply so Hesper would not interfere with his ability to perform his Jedi duties. Astonished and furious at Naren, Hesper demanded the Jedi Order reprimand such deceit. The Council obliged by temporarily suspending Naren from the Order, much to Hesper’s relief. Naren was devastated. But Hesper, too, was devastated. How could the man she loved so dearly keep her secret in such a way, and for so long? All those years! Wasted! Every kiss, every moment they spent together had been an absolute lie. Naren didn’t want to spend forever with her. He only wanted to serve a corrupt and vile order. Hesper had been right strung along. Rage and the painful desire for retribution burned in Hesper’s chest. With her trust shattered and her connection to the Dark Side of the Force growing ever stronger by the day, Hesper took it upon herself to kill Naren several nights later in their apartment. She divulged to him her plan to pursue the Dark Side, and admitted to him that she had been learning from him all along before revealing the lightsaber she had built in secret using the knowledge he had unknowingly imparted to her. Breaking down into hysterics, Hesper drove her lightsaber into Naren's chest, killing him. The next day, Hesper gathered only a few things she owned into a crate, took her husband's lightsaber, and fled from Coruscant. For the following year, Hesper chewed on what she had done and what had happened on Coruscant as she traveled the known galaxy. She did not meet many people, and kept herself under the radar until she arrived at Korriban, ready to find a Sith master and begin her quest for higher power. She was apprenticed to Emperor Dreadwar, and became immediately embroiled in a short but furious battle. Over the course of a few short whirlwind days, Hesper completed her training, and was promoted to the rank of High Lord. The power she had merely tasted during her self-training on Coruscant and in her travels around the galaxy had multiplied beyond her wildest dreams. And now with a scar from the Sith's trip to Mortis, Hesper's original strength in spatial relations morphed into a different sense, one in which she could sense time, and foresee the near future. Hesper then found herself catapulted through time to 5 ABY alongside the Triumvirate and the Dark Tribunal. Shortly after, the Triumvirate self-destructed, and the War of Three began. With her position as High Lord revoked and her trust in her fellow Sith broken, Hesper found herself at immediate odds with each of the now separate Triumvirs. Needing a moment of respite, Hesper slipped into the shadows aboard her Star Destroyer Sibyl, waiting for the right opportunity to return to the side of the one she considers to be the one true ruler. But by the start of the civil war, Hesper could no longer judge who deserved her loyalty. Once again disappearing into the shadows, Hesper searched for a way to return to her original timeline...